L.A. Times: Republicans ‘Stoke Fear’ with ‘Apocalyptic Rhetoric’ at RNC

The Los Angeles Times joined other mainstream media organizations in spinning the first night of the Republican National Convention (RNC) as a negative event on Monday evening, accusing the party of stoking “fear” with “apocalyptic rhetoric.”

The Times‘ Eli Stokols and Noah Bierman wrote:

[T]he program was marked by a dissonance between the upbeat, revisionist appeals and the dark, hyperbolic visions that repeatedly warned that Biden would champion socialism and lawlessness while Trump would stand, as one speaker put it, as a “bodyguard” who would protect America.

Trump’s campaign had promised an uplifting tone, seeking to contrast it with a Democratic convention that the president’s aides claimed was negative and overly critical of the country. But the kinder, gentler approach quickly fell by the wayside as the president warned in a midday speech to delegates that “your American dream will be dead” if Biden wins.

Stokols and Bierman largely ignored the positive, uplifting themes of the evening, including speakers who praised the president’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), his Right to Try legislation for terminally ill patients, or his efforts to free American hostages. They described Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) as the exception to other speeches.

Sen. Tim Scott: "Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime." #RepublicanConvention #RNC2020 pic.twitter.com/laQTUBTVns

— The Hill (@thehill) August 25, 2020

They added: “At their convention, Democrats offered more air time to speakers reaching out to the political center than to its more progressive voices.”

Notably, Democratic nominee Joe Biden spoke about a “season of darkness” in America.

The Times‘ effort matched descriptions by other mainstream media outlets, including the Washington Post, which accused the RNC of having “abandoned” a promise of optimism.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles itself, Black Lives Matter demonstrators marched through the streets Monday night demanding “defund the police” in response to a shooting on Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin — which was in flames on a second night of rioting.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.